


Ghost In The Armour

by Lacrimula_Falsa



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, The Avengers - Ambiguous Fandom
Genre: Alternate Universe, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Angst, Cap_Ironman Tiny Reverse Bang, Inspired by Fanart, Life Model Decoys, M/M, Sad Ending, Temporary Character Death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-14
Updated: 2018-09-14
Packaged: 2019-07-12 01:00:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15984227
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lacrimula_Falsa/pseuds/Lacrimula_Falsa
Summary: "Strange showed me what would happen to you if I died."  [Steve/Tony, AU. Written for round three of theCap-Iron Man Tiny Reverse Bang 2018, inspired byrowantreewrites' wonderful art.]





	Ghost In The Armour

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Avalon](https://archiveofourown.org/works/14979113) by [Rowantreeisme](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rowantreeisme/pseuds/Rowantreeisme). 



> _**Disclaimer:**_ I do not own any part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and/or any other Marvel franchise. I write for fun, not for profit.
> 
>  **Warnings!:** _Major Character Death_ (but not really)
> 
>  _A/N:_ This fic was inspired by _rowantreewrites_ ' wonderful art. Check it out and heap praise on the artist please. This can also be found [on my Tumblr](https://lacrimula-falsa.tumblr.com/post/176399617701), if that's your thing. Unbetad due to time constraints.
> 
> Code Name: Confession  
> Universe: MCU-based AU  
> Rating: T

“ _Steve… I’m sorry.”_

Steve stares at the blue, half-transparent… _thing_ where Tony’s head should be.

It looks like Tony’s face, but it isn’t.

Steve stares at the Iron Man armour, cradling Tony’s – no, the LMD.

 _Life Model Decoy_. Decoy indeed.

The robot Tony made to look like himself. The robot Steve talked to and held and kissed and…

He feels sick, bile risking sharp and bitter in his throat.

He never knew. Didn’t even suspect, not even once.

“Is that why you stopped sleeping in our bed?”

He hears Wanda draw in a sharp breath behind him and that’s right, she didn’t know about the two of them.

Blue eyebrows draw together, that ghostly face shading into… anger, almost.

“No Steve, that was because I was angry at you.”

Steve wants to laugh. _Angry._ Robots can’t be angry.

“Where’s the real Tony?”

It hurts to ask. It hurts to think that while he was out and about, being together with this, this _facsimile_ , making doe-eyes at some cheap copy of the man he loves, Tony was lying unconscious somewhere, injured and with nobody to help him.

Confusion flits onto that blue face and settles there.

“Steve, I _am_ me. I’m the real Tony. I’m right here.”

Steve shakes his head, raising his shield. Blinks away tears and advances on the… thing standing in front of him.

“Where is he? Tell me where!”

Tony’s copy still sounds calm when it replies.

“My body – my _original_ body – was destroyed. It doesn’t exist any more, Steve. It’s just dust blowing along the streets of New York.”

The armour’s arms raise to hold out the LMD like an offering.

“This is my body now, Steve. I made it to look exactly like me. It’s identical. It’s _better_.”

Under the shield, Steve’s arm starts to shake along with the rest of him.

It can’t be true. It can’t be. _Tony can’t be gone._

“That thing is _nothing_ like you.”

Blue features morph into angry derision in a flash.

“Isn’t it? You sure couldn’t tell the difference the last time we fucked.”

Steve rears back, dropping his shield-arm in shock.

The silence drags on for a few heartbeats. It’s Vision who breaks it.

“It’s true, Captain. Tony used Extremis to transfer his consciousness into the LMD moments before the death of his human body. I used the Mind Stone to help him.”

Steve turns his head to look at Vision, keeping the Iron Man armour in his peripheral sight.

“Why?”

As always, Vision looks untroubled.

“There are still traces of JARVIS inside of me. Like him, I wished to preserve the life of our creator.”

It’s not the answer Steve wants. Not the answer he’s looking for. He turns back to the Iron Man armour and the blue hologram of Tony’s face.

“Why? Why would you do this to yourself?”

_Why would you do this to_ me _?_

He swallows the question he really wants to ask.

The expression on the hologram’s face is painfully familiar. _Sadness._ It’s a damned good imitation.

“Strange showed me. He showed me a vision of what would happen to you if I died.”

The hologram looks down, averting its gaze.

“You would have died, Steve. You would have let the bioweapon kill you instead of searching for a cure. Losing me would have been too much. And the world needed you to live and keep fighting.”

The hologram looks up.

“ _I_ needed you to live. So it wasn’t all for nothing. So I didn’t _die_ for nothing.”

Looking at the pain in those wrong-coloured eyes is nearly unbearable. Trust Tony to program something capable of tricking you into feeling sympathy for a machine.

Steve’s voice comes out harsh and broken when he speaks.

“You are _not_ Tony. Tony would know I’d never want this. That thing you’re holding isn’t him, it’s a cheap copy. There’s a reason you had to trick me. I would never have replaced him with some _robot_. You’re insane if you think that.”

For almost a minute nothing happens. The hologram flickers like it’s broken and for a moment Steve thinks that this is it, that it has just shut down and any moment the armour will darken and shut off.

Then suddenly the armour jerks and drops the LMD at his feet.

“Destroy it then. If you hate this version of me so much. This isn’t like JARVIS programming, there’s no uplink to the Tower and no backup. My consciousness can’t exist outside of the LMD’s framework. The only reason I can control the armour is that I used the armour’s connection to the LMD to back up my mind in the first place. If you destroy the LMD, I’m gone. Just like you want.”

With that the armour pushes him out of the way, walking towards the workshop’s door.

Steve turns after it, helpless. He’s too slow and his hand grabs air instead of metal.

It feels like he’s back in the ice all of a sudden, the weight of a glacier crushing his chest and pushing his shoulders towards the floor.

The armour halts as if it can feel him reaching for it. It takes him three tries to force the words out.

“You’d let me destroy it. Just… just like that.”

He’s traced Tony’s features a hundred times with his hands and with a pencil. He barely recognizes them now, made of blue light and twisted with… something. Something like hopelessness.

Tony’s voice is just the same though, even coming from the suits empty chest.

“This was supposed to be a gift, Steve. I don’t think I want to be alive if you don’t want it.”

With that the armour steps into the alcove near the door, it’s lights going out. The hologram of Tony’s face flickers out of existence.

Steve falls to the floor next to the LMD, buries his face in his arms and cries.

 


End file.
